There is substantial interest in the possibility that cognitive skills can be improved by dedicated behavioral training. Yet despite the large amount of work being conducted in this domain, there is not an explicit and widely agreed upon consensus around the best methodological practices. This document seeks to fill this gap. We start from the perspective that there are many types of studies that are important in this domain—e.g., feasibility, mechanistic, efficacy, and effectiveness. These studies have fundamentally different goals, and, as such, the best-practice methods to meet those goals will also differ. We thus make suggestions in topics ranging from the design and implementation of control groups, to reporting of results, to dissemination and communication, taking the perspective that the best practices are not necessarily uniform across all study types. We also explicitly recognize and discuss the fact that there are methodological issues around which we currently lack the theoretical and/or empirical foundation to determine best practices (e.g., as pertains to assessing participant expectations). For these, we suggest important routes forward, including greater interdisciplinary collaboration with individuals from domains that face related concerns. Our hope is that these recommendations will greatly increase the rate at which science in this domain advances.

@article{shawn_green_improving_2019,
title = {Improving {Methodological} {Standards} in {Behavioral} {Interventions} for {Cognitive} {Enhancement}},
issn = {2509-3290, 2509-3304},
url = {http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41465-018-0115-y},
doi = {10.1007/s41465-018-0115-y},
abstract = {There is substantial interest in the possibility that cognitive skills can be improved by dedicated behavioral training. Yet despite the large amount of work being conducted in this domain, there is not an explicit and widely agreed upon consensus around the best methodological practices. This document seeks to fill this gap. We start from the perspective that there are many types of studies that are important in this domain—e.g., feasibility, mechanistic, efficacy, and effectiveness. These studies have fundamentally different goals, and, as such, the best-practice methods to meet those goals will also differ. We thus make suggestions in topics ranging from the design and implementation of control groups, to reporting of results, to dissemination and communication, taking the perspective that the best practices are not necessarily uniform across all study types. We also explicitly recognize and discuss the fact that there are methodological issues around which we currently lack the theoretical and/or empirical foundation to determine best practices (e.g., as pertains to assessing participant expectations). For these, we suggest important routes forward, including greater interdisciplinary collaboration with individuals from domains that face related concerns. Our hope is that these recommendations will greatly increase the rate at which science in this domain advances.},
journal = {Journal of Cognitive Enhancement},
author = {Shawn Green, C. and Bavelier, Daphne and Kramer, Arthur F. and Vinogradov, Sophia and Ansorge, Ulrich and Ball, Karlene K. and Bingel, Ulrike and Chein, Jason M. and Colzato, Lorenza S. and Edwards, Jerri D. and Facoetti, Andrea and Gazzaley, Adam and Gathercole, Susan E. and Ghisletta, Paolo and Gori, Simone and Granic, Isabela and Hillman, Charles H. and Hommel, Bernhard and Jaeggi, Susanne M. and Kanske, Philipp and Karbach, Julia and Kingstone, Alan and Kliegel, Matthias and Klingberg, Torkel and Kühn, Simone and Levi, Dennis M. and Mayer, Richard E. and McLaughlin, Anne Collins and McNamara, Danielle S. and Morris, Martha Clare and Nahum, Mor and Newcombe, Nora S. and Panizzutti, Rogerio and Prakash, Ruchika Shaurya and Rizzo, Albert and Schubert, Torsten and Seitz, Aaron R. and Short, Sarah J. and Singh, Ilina and Slotta, James D. and Strobach, Tilo and Thomas, Michael S. C. and Tipton, Elizabeth and Tong, Xin and Vlach, Haley A. and Wetherell, Julie Loebach and Wexler, Anna and Witt, Claudia M.},
month = jan,
year = {2019},
keywords = {MedVR}
}